Jobs in the $120 Billion Dollar a Year Childhood Obesity Prevention Industry

According to recent government sources America spends over $120,000,000 (that’s Billion with a B) dollars annually on childhood obesity and related issues. That is to say we spend about the same on obesity as we’re spending on the Iraq war and we’re losing because the problem is getting worse not better. Not only that, we can’t pull out of this one even if we wanted to, which means we have to take a stand and fight.

Only One Percent

In this light I’d like to suggest that we take a mere ONE PERCENT of that $120 billion dollars and REDIRECT IT INTO A WAR ON CHILDHOOD OBESITY designed to naturally immunize kids against obesity for life, eliminate this plague within one decade, save the American taxpayer trillions over the same time period, immediately create 20,000 GOOD PAYING JOBS (400 per state), and improve the life quality and productivity of millions of kids from sea to shining sea.

Let’s Do the Math

Check out the math. One hundred twenty billion times one percent equals $1,200,000,000 (one point two billion dollars). If we paid each childhood obesity prevention specialist an average of $60,000 each we could hire 20,000 of them nationwide. This works out to be an average of 400 new childhood obesity specialists per state who would in turn work with schools, park districts, Boys and Girls Clubs, YM/WCA’s, and churches who are interested in helping their kids naturally immunize themselves against obesity for life.

Starting With Kindergartners

If we did nothing more than start with kindergarten classes across each state using simple height adjustable pull up bars together with a technique called leg assisted pull ups to help students learn to physically pull their own weight, 90% of all kindergartners would be naturally immunized against obesity for life by the end of the school year because kids who can do pull ups are NEVER OBESE. The other 10% would also be well on their way toward natural self immunization. Repeat this scenario for 10 straight years and childhood obesity would be ancient history like polio or the black plague.

2,000,000 Kids Annually Immunized Against Obesity

Let’s examine the possibilities in a little different way. Let’s say that each new specialist worked with (supported) only 10 other adults (teachers, park district, Boys and Girls Club, or pre-school employees) who in turn worked directly with at least 10 kids. Under those conditions we would naturally immunize 40,000 kids (10 X 10 X 400 = 40,000) against obesity for life in each state annually against obesity for life. Nationally that figure would be 2,000,000 kids who would be naturally immunized annually.

10,000,000 Kids Annually Immunized Against Obesity

But these figures are very conservative, the worst case scenario. Let’s say instead that each new specialist worked with 10 schools each week (one in the AM and one in the PM), and each school averaged 50 kindergartners. Under these conditions the number of kids naturally immunized against obesity for life annually explodes to 200,000 kids per state and 10,000,000 nationally.

And under those conditions childhood obesity would be completely eliminated in one decade or less, saving American taxpayer trillions, and making the lives of millions of American kids meaningful and productive in a way that they currently are not.

Meaningful Work Instead of Meaningless Repetition

One final note here is that the 20,000 jobs that we could create immediately with NO NEW MONEY, by redirecting what we’re currently spending in a productive direction, would create meaningful jobs that not only pay well and produce a humongous return on our nation’s investment in the personal infrastructure of our kids, but the childhood obesity prevention specialists themselves will know they’re doing something worth doing, something important, something that will make a difference in the lives of kids and parents across the USA, and maybe the world.

P.S. Dedicate 2% instead of 1% and you automatically DOUBLE these numbers!!

P.S.S. Can you imagine a stronger foundation for a prevention oriented American healthcare system than the elimination of childhood obesity within one decade?

Childhood Obesity Prevention Studies Set in a New Context

As a nation, we’ve spent billions and billions of dollars on studies in the name of discovering a practical antidote to childhood obesity.

For example…

We have studies indicating that childhood obesity is related to our modern fast food diet.

We have studies indicating that the odds of childhood obesity are increased in a couch potato generation of kids who prefer TV and video games over riding bikes and climbing trees.

We have studies indicating that the odds of beating obesity are better for kids who have access to daily PE than for kids who lack access to daily PE.

We have studies relating childhood obesity to poor sleeping habits, to green neighborhoods, to a child’s social circles, to parents who take responsibility for their kid’s diet, and to the presence of super markets in economically challenged neighborhoods to mention only a few.

What we have yet to discover in any of our studies is a simple, implementable, documentable, and affordable solution to childhood obesity. We’ve found no magic pill, no silver bullet, no way to inspire and motivate kids to eat better/less and exercise more.

On the Other Hand…

On the other hand, think about this. Show me ten kids who live on a fast food diet, but who can do one single pull up and I’ll show you ten kids who are NOT OBESE.

Show me ten kids who love TV and video games but can do one single pull up, and I’ll show you ten more kids who are NOT OBESE.

Show me ten kids who never get PE in school, but who can do one single pull up, and I’ll show you ten more kids who are NOT OBESE.

Show me ten kids with bad sleeping habits, who live life in gray concrete neighborhoods, with no supermarkets, and who have miserable social circles, but who can do one single pull up and I’ll show you another ten kids who are NOT OBESE. In other words kids who can do pull ups are NEVER OBESE, so why don’t we just help all kids learn to physically pull their own weight?

You see helping kids to learn to do pull ups is “simple, easily implemented, easily documented, and affordable,” according to the American Society of Exercise Physiologists. So maybe that practical solution to childhood obesity prevention has been hiding in plain sight all along, but in searching high and low for complicated, high tech solutions, we’ve overlooked the obvious. Yes, kids who can do pull ups ARE NEVER OBESE! Let’s help them all learn to physically pull their own weight.

Rick Osbourne spent 17 years as a physical educator and coach. He currently writes for a living, and serves as the Executive Director of Operation Pull Your Own Weight, (www.pullyourownweight.net) an informational

Jobs, Problem Solving, and Childhood Obesity Prevention

Jobs are being lost by the boatloads all over the nation at an alarming rate. This in turn threatens our nation’s economic viability, reduces our confidence and our spending capacity, and in turn that threatens more job losses in an ever increasing downward spiral. But let’s stop wringing our hands for a second and ask the following question. “What is a job anyway if it’s not an ongoing set of problems to be solved on behalf of someone who’s willing and able to pay you for solving them?”

Problems Equal Opportunity

In that sense, the more problems we experience, the more job opportunities there are on the horizon, presuming you can find someone to pay you for tackling and resolving those problems. In the best light then, the myriad of problems our nation faces today should be seen as a myriad of opportunities, with the challenge being to identify someone who can and will pay your for solving these problems. Change and opportunity (including won/lost opportunity) inevitably go hand in hand.

Take Childhood Obesity for Example

Let’s take for example, the current and growing problem of childhood obesity. Several months ago the United States Surgeon General announced that childhood obesity was his number one priority. A forum of former US Surgeon Generals recently declared that childhood obesity was a greater threat to American’s health than smoking or Aids. It’s costing the American taxpayer over $120 Billion annually (about the same as the war in Iraq) and it’s growing not shrinking.

By any measure childhood obesity is a BIG problem, and if someone can successfully step up to the plate in his or her own community and tangibly turn the tide on this plague, they should be paid handsomely for it…wouldn’t you agree? So the question becomes how do YOU step up to the plate and turn the tide on childhood obesity in your own community? Here’s one quick answer to that question.

The Basic Mechanics

First go to a website called Pull Your Own Weight dot net and peruse the home page. Once you’re done perusing, click on the 90 second You Tube video and watch it…a couple times if necessary. Do these two things and within ten minutes I promise that you’ll understand the mechanics of how kids can naturally immunize themselves against obesity for life, without pills, shots, or fancy diets. It’s actually quite simple.

Here’s the Challenge

But understanding the mechanics is the easy part. The challenging part is understanding the psychology of motivating kids to take action, and to do what ever is necessary to eat better, exercise more, and to naturally immunize themselves against obesity for life. For that you’ll have to read the book entitled Operation Pull Your Own Weight: A Radically Simple Solution to Childhood Obesity, which is available on the Pull Your Own Weight dot net website, Amazon, or on Barnes and Noble.

The Three Most Important Factors

According to the old adage, the three most important factors in real estate are location, location, and location. In childhood obesity prevention the three most important factors are MOTIVATION, MOTIVATION, and MOTIVATION. In other words if you can motivate them, you’ll win and they’ll win too! So what’s wrong with a win/win?

Congratulations, You’ve Just Created Your Own Job

I’m here to tell you that if you truly understand how to inspire and motivate kids to eat better, exercise more, and to naturally immunize themselves against obesity, YOU understand something that most people don’t. This mean that you have a unique service to offer your community (schools, pre-schools, after school programs at park districts, Y’s, Boys/Girls Clubs, churches, etc.).

And by offering that unique service you’ll be able to step up to the plate and tangibly turn the tide on childhood obesity in your community, and get paid handsomely for doing it. That is to say, you have created your own job (how does Childhood Obesity Specialist sound?) by solving a big problem that people can and are willing to pay for.

Childhood Obesity is Only One Example

Now finally, it’s important to say that any time there are big changes in the wind, you can expect big problems to be following closely behind. And big problems create big opportunities for those who are ready and willing to offer legitimate solutions.

Childhood obesity is only one example. Look around and identify all the big problems that people are now wrestling with. And if you can come up with a solution that people are willing and able to pay for, you’ll not only create a job for yourself, but in the process you can probably create jobs for other people, and that’ll be good for the economy of your community, town, county, state, and nation.

Go Identify Some Problems

Let me repeat, a job is nothing more than a set of problems that someone is willing and able to pay you to resolve. Now go out, identify some problems, solve them, and you won’t worry about losing your job. You’ll be too busy creating them instead

Childhood Obesity Prevention – Does it Work?

Does childhood obesity prevention work? That question can be answered with a resounding yes. That said, it doesn’t work in 100% of the cases where it’s applied, but if you’re willing to work hard and take it seriously, you have a really good chance at preventing obesity in your children. And preventing obesity is much better than trying to reverse the negative effects of obesity.

So, if childhood obesity prevention works, the question really is – why aren’t you putting it into place in your life yet? If you care about your children and most parents do, taking steps to make sure that your children never have to deal with the effects of childhood obesity can go a long way in making both of your lives better in the long run.

Now that we know that childhood obesity prevention can work and is a good thing, I bet you’re asking yourself what the easiest way to put things into place is. That’s good. Questions lead to answers. That is, if you’re not asking questions, you’re less likely to find the answers.

The best advice is to arm yourself up with knowledge about the problem. By attacking childhood obesity before it becomes a problem in your child’s life, you’re one step ahead of a lot of other parents. It’s easier to prevent obesity than it is to reverse the effects of obesity on your children. And with a problem as serious as obesity and children, the easier you can make the battle, the more likely you’re going to win.

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